On Christmas Eve when the update took place, Asuna challenged the Floor Boss of the 21st Floor with the hope that their old home on the 22nd Floor remained unchanged. After a fierce battle, the group managed to successfully reach the 22nd Floor. There Asuna and Kirito rushed to the place of their old home and purchased it again.

Lisbeth and Asuna talking about Absolute Sword.

On January 6, 2026; Asuna, Leafa, Lisbeth and Silica were doing their homework at Asuna and Kirito's log house, while Kirito was sleeping on the rocking chair with Pina and Yui on top of him. As Kirito's aura of sleepiness was making everyone else sleepy, Asuna made some tea and the girls stepped outside. Lisbeth then asked if Asuna had heard about the stories about Absolute Sword.

Kirito fighting Absolute Sword.

As Asuna had been away during the New Year and did not have access to the Internet, so she could not have heard such stories, Lisbeth explained that Absolute Sword was a strong player who had likely converted from another game and was challenging other players at an island on the 24th Floor. Although many players challenged them, including Leafa and Lisbeth, they were all beaten easily. However, Silica explained that players would likely continue to challenge the mysterious player as they were betting an 11-hit Original Sword Skill, having a higher combo than the previous top Original Sword Skill, General Eugene's 8-hit «Volcanic Blazer». After hearing that Kirito had also fought the player and lost, after saying something to them, Asuna decided to challenge the player herself.

At that moment, Asuna noticed that it was already past her dinner time, but before she logged out, she asked Lisbeth if the player could be a former SAO player. Lisbeth answered by saying that she had asked Kirito what he thought about the player after battling them and his response was that the player could not have been an SAO player, as the «Dual Blades» skill would have been given to them instead of him.

A lot of the dialogue in the log house was not part of the novel, including the reference to Kazuto working on a device for Yui to be able to experience the real world.

The scene in the Dicey Cafe was not part of the novel.

In this episode, Andrew mentioned that he had met his wife via an online game when she was still in America. However, in the 2005 web version interview, it was said that they had met each other because both of them were foreigners and they lived close to each other.

The New Aincrad's 21st Floor boss in the anime looks different from its counterpart in the manga adaption.

The pun about the nickname absolute sword (絶剣,Zekken?) sounding like a sportsman's number (ゼッケン,Zekken?) was omitted.